CISCO — It is by sheer coincidence that the Cisco-based beer brewing team of Ryan DeKok and Jason Mahon both married women named "Amber."

It is also poetic.

The co-founders of Red Gap Brewing Co. are that serious about their craft, which aside from reducing the brewing process to its most basic level, also endeavors to elevate the finished product to that of an art form.

"We're stripping beer down to the purest ingredients — water, grain, hops and yeast," DeKok said. "I think you'll see over time that it's better that way."

Three days per week, patrons have the opportunity to draw their own conclusions. And since its establishment in 2016, the reception has been positive, with a steady influx of locals, tourists and traveling beer aficionados who are often waiting at the door as it opens.

The team produces 12 different beers, including a lager, hefeweizen, bock, porter and of course, an amber, with eight of them on tap each week on a rotating basis. A house root beer is also served and food is provided by a rotating selection of popular area food trucks, which park out front.

Buy Photo

The Red Gap Brewing Co. taproom is open Thursdays through Saturdays in Cisco.(Photo: Evan Ren/Reporter-News)

With old-style brewing techniques being showcased, it is again, poetic, that an old-style building is being used as center stage.

A former department store, believed to be roughly 100 years old, in the heart of downtown Cisco, was selected for the location. It was subsequently gutted and renovated to include a mezzanine for additional seating.

Red Gap Brewing, however, is not a saloon. Its primary purpose is to provide a family friendly hangout where one can, among other things, learn to appreciate beer in its basic form. A modest business schedule — 5-9 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays and 12-5 p.m. on Saturdays — is meant to promote that environment.

"The longer you stay open, the less it feels like a family place and the more it feels like a bar," Mahon said. "A lot of people come in here and call this a bar, but we're always quick to correct them.

"It's a taproom. Not that there's anything wrong with bars, but from the Cisco perspective, we want to encourage a responsible relationship with beer. We're not encouraging people to drink too much and we've had to cut people off. Even though that's a hard thing to do, we feel like that's the best thing to do.

"If we stayed open until 12, that would happen a lot more."

There's no pressure to change their approach, given that both men have successful careers away from Red Gap.

DeKok, a 40-year-old Colorado native, is an active duty F-16 pilot based at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth. Mahon, a 37-year-old native of Sherman who also resides in Fort Worth, is an attorney and rancher.

Both men make the trek to Cisco once per week to operate their taproom, with much of their work coming during a painstaking brewing process.

With their spouses handling promotions and marketing, Mahon is responsible for financial and business operations while DeKok oversees business management and brewing.

After striking up a friendship in church a few years ago, the two began developing the idea for a taproom together. The idea to place it in Cisco is credited to Mahon, but he is quick to credit DeKok for being the creative mind behind the beer itself.

"If one of us is a beer snob it's Ryan," Mahon said. "My two favorite beers are what's free and what's on sale. ... There are a lot of beers I don't really want to drink. But if someone gives it to me, I'll drink it.

"So I'd say of the two of us, Ryan has taken on more of the brewing role, operations-wise."

Together Mahon and DeKok are now a part of an American craft beer explosion that has seen countless microbreweries spawn all over the country. Some of Red Gap's brews have already been served in local Abilene establishments.

They hope to see distribution eventually expand.

"Everybody knows about Miller and Bud and Coors," said DeKok, who has been a follower of the craft beer scene since 1999. "Breaking away from that mold is something different and the craft beer scene is hard to quantify right now.

"It's growing very fast and if you're not enjoying craft beer because it's better, you're doing it for the wrong reasons."

Along the way, both men have not only increased their knowledge of the ancient brewing process, which dates back thousands of years. But their appreciation for what their peers are attempting to do has grown, as well.

Beer brewing is a delicate process, particularly when one is aiming for something quite specific in terms of flavor. With dozens of varieties and an endless number of tweaks one can add on their own, consistently hitting the target is a matter of precision.

"I used to be the kind of guy who would only drink beer with a ton of hops in it," DeKok said. "I've diverged away from that because I see what good beer is and how difficult it is to make good beer and I appreciate all the beers that I drink.

"I don't think I'll ever drink a beer and say 'man, that was bad.' I'll drink a beer and say 'I'm not sure if I agree with what they were doing, but I see what they were trying to do.'"

Word has begun to spread about Red Gap, which was prominently mentioned in a Texas Highways Magazine article on growing tourism trade in Cisco.

Even Red Gap's complaints could be viewed as positive — usually centering on the short business hours and limited number of days that it is open.

DeKok and Mahon haven't eliminated the possibility of opening a bit earlier, or perhaps even expanding to an extra day eventually. But the family-oriented theme and early closing times will stay in place.

"We take reviews with a grain of salt," Mahon said. "We had someone tell us they didn't like it, but it was because they didn't like beer."

Welcome to Cisco

Cisco is listed as one of 18 places to visit in 2018 in the January issue of Texas Highways magazine. An article on the town about 45 miles east of Abilene lists several places to visit in Cisco in addition to the Red Gap brewery. Among them are Waverly’s Coffee & Gifts, Log Cabin Guest Haus, Conrad Hilton Center, Shannon’s Burger Barn and more.

And don't forget Abilene

Last, but not least, on the list, the magazine recommends folks “get into character with Abilene’s Storybook Garden.” Texas Highways brags about the garden, Abilene’s designation as the Storybook Capital of Texas, and the annual Children’s Art & Literacy Festival.